Reuters Soccer Blog

Bullfighting banned in Catalonia — So how will David Villa celebrate now?

Now that the Spanish region of Catalonia has banned bullfighting, what will happen to striker David’s Villa goal-scoring celebrations?

Villa struck a matador’s pose after he scored in Spain’s World Cup games in South Africa – you can see an example on FIFA’s official site here — raising eyebrows by some in Catalonia who viewed it as a gesture of support for the “fiesta nacional”.

He’s now moving from Valencia to Barcelona but the Catalonian regional parliament this week voted to ban bullfighting, raising an interesting, if not entirely serious question: Will Villa continue his homage to la corrida at the Nou Camp and risk upsetting Catalans?

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos got into trouble last year for leaving a Real Madrid match to go and watch his matador friend Alejandro Talavante at a bullfight, still wearing his Real suit.

In his profile on the Real Madrid website, Ramos, who hails from Sevilla, a cradle of bullfighting, says he loves the bulls.

“I always dreamed of being a footballer or a bullfighter…I guess the bullfighting world was something that was instilled in me as a kid. Bullfighting is an art in which your life is constantly on the line.”

That should add some extra spice to the next match between old rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Is Bullard’s celebration the best?

Jimmy Bullard’s re-enactment of Hull City manager Phil Brown lecturing his players on the field has been widely praised — even by Brown himself.

Bullard sat his team mates down and wagged his finger after scoring the equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Manchester City, where Brown had dished out his unsual telling off at halftime in a 5-1 defeat last term.

Is Bullard’s the best goal celebration you’ve seen? If not what was better? Marco Tardelli? Robbie Fowler? Bebeto?

The danger of goal celebrations…

Anyone remember Arsenal’s Steve Morrow being dropped by Tony Adams in the 1993 English League Cup final? Well this guy in Spain got injured all by himself….

This is from our main website.

Real Betis striker Sergio Garcia will be out for a month after injuring his knee while celebrating scoring the opening goal in the 3-3 home draw against Numancia.

The Spain international slid to his knees after netting in the ninth minute on Saturday, and had to be substituted soon after.

The side’s top scorer with nine goals twisted the lateral ligament in his left knee, the club said on their website.